The Hulk, LA and Central Ohio



I saw the Hulk tonight. It was nothing like I expected. I think that it was good. Ang Lee took some bold chances with the editing. The CG looked so bad on TV, but seemed to work within the film. I'm not sure what the message of the film was, but I'm pretty sure it had one...which is a good thing for a comic movie.



Being so far away from home has made me realize how close I live to LA...does that make sense at all? So, I'm thinking about taking some acting classes in LA this fall once a week to see what its like.



Columbus, Ohio. That's were I grew up and where I am tonight. It is the twenty-fifth biggest city in America...just behind #24, Las Vegas. What has struck me this time:

The insane amount of restaurants per capita. Everywhere you look, there's another Chilis, Applebees, etc.

There are no movies after 10 pm, which is kind of odd to me.

There's a $50 limit to cash back at the grocery store.

The national gay pride march is here this week-50,000 people. It seems so conservative to be so...not conservative.

Baja Fresh is here now...another restaurant but a taste of home.

The movie theater that opened my junior year of high school looks rather aged and worn...what does that say about me?

Notes from the Road



States I've been in since Monday:



Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio...where I am tonight.



Miles driven since Monday:



2,284



Total miles on the new minivan:



2, 479



Today I buried my Grandfather. I was the "minister" but I so desperately wanted to be the grandson. I was able to help lots of people. That was good. I don't mind helping people. I just want to be a normal guy who loves Jesus and helps people. I'm tired of being seen as a professional pastor. I used to love it...not more than four years ago I was proud of it as a profession, but something has changed. Its more than a profession. Being a professional minister doesn't even make sense. A pro-servant? A pro-shepherd? A pro-missionary?



Don't get me wrong. I like working for Apex...I am so grateful for all of the people who sacrifice so that I can devote so many hours to church planting and encouraging church leaders. I just wish that I could explain to everyone that "my friends give me money so that I can devote my time to our common mission." Instead most people label me, for better or worse, as a pastor, or preacher (I got that a lot today in the hills of Kentucky) or a minister or whatever.



Speaking of pastor stuff, I was scheduled to speak at Central Christian in a few weeks, a big church in Vegas. I like speaking there because its fun to work the big room. It's a good dose of big church excitement and energy once a year so that I can remember why I like having church so much in Shad and Sherry's living room. I love being a part of a megachurch every 10-12 months. But...Central had to bump me for a prospective Sr. Pastor candidate. So, I'm both sad and relieved at the same time.



Ah life, one minute you're an up and coming minister and the next minute you want to spend your life with struggling actors...one minute you're packing your sesame street suitcase to spend the night with your Papaw, the next minute you're packing your family into a minivan to preside at his funeral...one minute you are being strong at the funeral, the next minute you weep while typing a blog.



I love you, Papaw. I'm sorry that I didn't call you very often, but neither of us liked talking on the phone at all. I know that you stuggled with God...just like me. I hope that there is a literal heaven and I hope that you are there...I'm proud of you. You were a kind and gentle man. I don't know if I am that yet, but I want to be.



I conclude this blog with the exact words that my Papaw would say if he read the above paragraph...



Bulllllshit. (This was his way to say, "I love you too.")

Papaw



My Grandfather, Clifford Maddox, died last night at 9:15 eastern time. Both my mother (his daughter) and I are only children, so I was his only grandchild and the boys were his only great-grandchildren. My grandma, "Nanny", is still alive. She has asked me to do the funeral. I would rather just attend...but I'm planning on doing it for her.



So...we are leaving today in the new minivan on an 18 day journey into the heartland of America. We had planned on leaving three weeks from now, but decided to go now to make the funeral. I will be flying back to Vegas in a few weeks to speak at Central Christian, then returning to Indiana to drive the family home.



We'd appreciate your prayers for travel and for both mine and Debbie's family. (We will also be seeing Angie, Deb's sister-in-law, who is battling brain cancer.)



Life is about to get very real. Love you all.

Joe's Crab Shack



Went there for dinner tonight. I hate it. I don't know why I go back. Too loud. Too extroverted. Too much of that "I-know-your-food-is-ready-but-first-let-me-do-a-ten-minute-line-dance-to-Wild-Wild-West" attitude.



Let's get crackin'

It had to happen someday...



Today I purchased a mini-van. I feel obligated to pretend that I hate mini-vans on the grounds that they are too suburban or too boring or too middle-agish...but my family could use a mini-van...so I bought a mini-van...



I hope you all will respect me in the morning.

Am I Behind?



We are all settling into the new house. Now four of the six of us grown-ups are blogging:

Me, Kelly, Kenny and Doug.



I feel behind. Behind at work, at home, with Saga, in life...I'm 30 and should be settling into a career or something, but I am remarkably less settled than I was when I was 23...I was 30 when I was 23 and now I'm 23 when I'm 30. My life is all bass-ackwards. But I must like it that way for some reason.



Going to have Cheyl's mexican feast now. Peace to you.

Hope International University



I'm leaving on a jet plane (cue music) tonight to teach a class at Hope. The class concerns church planting in a post-modern culture. It should be fun. I'll be back late tomorrow night.

Jasper



Jasper is a friend of mine from The Second City Training Center. We had lunch yesterday and it evolved into a very deep conversation regarding Christianity. What struck me the most about our conversation was one sentence that Jasper said. "I think the problem with modern Christianity is that the church is married to politics, and capitalism, and the American Dream." I was blown away at how obvious this was to a guy who hasn't been in the church system. I told him that when I say those things within the church I often get attacked. "Sounds like you're a prophet of sorts. Do they still have those? Maybe your a prophet with a little "p."



We talked some more about Buddhism. He's very interested the inward strength and peace associated with it...and so am I at some level. He encouraged me and said that he wished he had a rudder in his life like my faith was to me. At the end he told me that I was funny and should keep acting. We both seemed to leave a little deeper and more joyful than when we came into the restaurant.



I'm not sure, but I think we might have been to church without realizing it.

First Normal Day



Today is my first day back to work after the big move. Overall things are going very well. Still lots of boxes and minor issues to sort out...but a great experience thus far overall. I have loads of e-mails and phone calls to return, so be patient if you are one of them! Peace to you and yours.

A Big Week



This is it. We are moving into the new house on Thursday. I'm excited on many levels and a little anxious as well. Mainly, I love the opportunity to restructure my life. Whenever I move it makes me want to exercise, to pray, to write, to organize, etc..



There's a good chance that I will not be blogging much this week, so you'll have to forge ahead without me. If you are a Vegas friend, we could use some help moving this Thursday. Just give me a buzz...there's free pizza and beer for the movers...and of course, the satisfaction of moving three families into one house. It's like a reality show only not a show...yeah, that's it...the gift of reality to all who wish to carry my bed, TV and blender...



Peace to the restless. Courage to the fearful. Joy to the empty souls...my blessing this week to you.

Ten Questions



My answers to the ten questions at your right ---------->

Feel free to answer them yourselves. They are stolen from James Lipton who stole them from somebody else...



1. Yes.

2. Cancer.

3. A new idea.

4. Ignorant criticism.

5. A push lawnmower from a distance.

6. My wife's cell phone ring.

7. "Damn" used as a second adjective, as in "a hundred damn dollars"

8. Actor.

9. Entomologist

10. "I'm real."

Blaine



Blaine is a buddy of mine from my Second City classes. He's moving to NYC this week which kinda bums me out. He has been selected as one of the final five contestants for The It Factor on Bravo. I thought some of you might be interested in seeing him. Click Here.

Thought Fragments



I'm rather mentally manic these days. I have so many ideas of things that I want to be doing...but it has been hard to craft a lifestyle that allows for such things. Tomorrow is jam packed. I have two breakfasts. One with a leader from the Mennonite Conference at 6:00 am (Excited about meeting him-not so excited about the time.) A breakfast with Noah Blair at 10 am, a new friend from my acting classes. Lunch with Doug Parks before he leaves for a few months. Staff meeting in the afternoon and house church at night...there's a real good chance that I will not blog tomorrow.



My friends Greg and Jennifer are here from NY. We had a great dinner tonight. They'll be leading worship at Apex this weekend.



The new house is ten days away!!! I'm getting very excited now.



Thanks to those of you who responded to my last blog. Today was much better. Real peace to you, reader.

Us



We could use some prayer. Things have been tough for us as a family lately. We aren't in crisis or anything, just weary and frustrated. Parenting is very very hard work. Sometimes Debbie and I feel like we are the worst of the worst. The last few days our kids have been very hyper and demanding of both of us. We love them so much, but we are both getting drained and a little depressed. Please just ask God to sustain us. I think of what the Palmers and my brother and sister-in-law are going through with their cancers and I feel bad for complaining about my healthy family. I know that our trials are very normal and nominal, but we just need to break out of our sad funk. I figure if you care enough about me to read this silly blog, you'd probably want to know about the simple frustrations of my life as well!



Thanks all,



Joe

Eli's Questions



Two weeks ago Eli, my three-year old, asked me what water was made of. I was rather distracted trying to get him into his car seat so I answered without thinking. "Hydrogen and Oxygen." He said "What's hilgrigin and oxelgon?" "Basic elements," I said as I closed the car door. His question haunted me that day. More acurately, my answers bothered me. I am such a materialist...such a modern...such a practical atheist...a fact junky. What is water made of? I am convinced that every pre-modern culture that has ever existed has a damn good answer that involves a beautiful narrative of one of their own recieving water from the Divine. We think that we have the right answer...H2O. H20 is BS. Its a lie that we created to forget the story of what water really is. Water is made of love and life. That's the truth. It's a gift not a formula. I made a vow that day that I would try to answer the next difficult question as a spiritual being instead of some organic computer.



The next question came about four hours ago. Eli and I were on our way home from Walmart when he noticed the eclipse. (I knew it was happening but had forgotten to look.) "What's wrong with the moon, daddy?" "It's an eclipse, Eli." Crap! Here I go again. "What's an ekilps, daddy?" It was all I could do not to explain planetary rotation, natural satellites and the moon as a reflective body. I searched my brain for a story...nothing came to mind until Eli spoke again. "I think the moon has a moon-blanket on cause he's cold." I said, "Sounds good to me, buddy. It is really cold on the moon right now." "Yeah...and the moon is far away...farther than Memaw and Papaw's house, huh?" "Yeah, really far," I answered.



We arrived home about five minutes later and Eli told Mommy, "The moon has a blanket on." She stared bewilderingly at me..."There's an eclipse tongiht." I had to translate truth into fact for her. Now if I could just learn to do the opposite for Eli.

The Day After



I have been noticing some less than favorable reviews of Matrix Reloaded starting to emerge on the web. I think lots of people were let down. I wasn't. I thought it was great. I love the mythos most of all. For some reason I was really pulled into the love story as well. I actually left believing that Trinity and Neo were in love, which never happens for me in a romantic comedy.



So there, I am a geek. I loved Matrix Reloaded.

Joe and Phil's Book Club



My friend Phil and I will be reading Henri Nouwen's Clowning in Rome for the next few weeks if anyone wants to join in the fun. I probably won't get started until Monday. It's short and most people find Nouwen easy to read.

Excuse My Blogdust



I've added a few new things over here ---->

Go Reds!



Well I thought that the season was shot...but my Cincinnait Red Legs have won five in a row and are back to 500. I'm looking forward to catching a game at the new ballpark this summer on our trip back home to Ohio. I used to be primarily a football and college basketball fan. The older I get, the more I like baseball. Maybe it's Greg's influence, or maybe there is just something very soothing and, dare I admit, American about it. More realistically, maybe it is because I am a Bengals fan.

A Midsummer Night's Dream



My friend Heather Burdette is in this play, if anyone is interested...



Summerlin Centre Community Park

(1800 Town Center, Town Center & Charleston)



May 15, 16 & 17



Gates open at 5:30pm

Greenshow at 7:30pm, Shows at 8:00pm



Tickets are $12.00 for the General Public, and $8.00 for Summerlin residents.



Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Summerlin Home Finding Center next to the park, Thursday through Monday from 10:00am to 6:00pm,

or at the gate on show days.



Call (702) 791-4412 for more information!